Documents referred to by numbering in this specification correspond to the list at the end of the specification. All documents referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Adiponectin (also called ACRP30, adipoQ or GBP28) is a protein secreted from adipocytes. The nucleotide seqence was originally identified by four research groups using different approaches. See, for example, Scherer, P. E., et al., Journal of Biological Chemistry 270(45): 26746-26749 (1995); Nakano, Y., et al., Journal of Biochemistry 120(4): 803-12 (1996); Hu, E., et al. Journal of Biological Chemistry 271(18): 10697-10703 (1996); and Maeda, K., et al., Biochemical & Biophysical Research Communications, c221(2):286-9 (1996). The adiponectin gene is located at chromosome 3q27, a susceptibility locus for type 2 diabetes and other metabolic syndromes [12-14] Several recent studies have been said to support the idea that adiponectin may be a hormone that could link obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes [9-11].